Mindfulness & Positive Psychology

“Mindfulness is awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.” - Jon Kabat-Zinn

About Mindfulness:

What do you think about when you wake up first thing in the morning? Your shower? When you are in the shower, what do you think about? Getting dressed? What do you think about when you are getting dressed? Your breakfast? What are you thinking about while eating breakfast? You can see where this is going!

What about if when you are in your bed, you feel the softness of the mattress and bedclothes. What about if when you are in the shower, you notice the smell of the shower gel and see and hear the water running. What about when eating your breakfast, you deliberately savour every morsel. This is what being mindful is all about. It's not something extra we do in our day, instead it's a way of being.

When we are constantly in our thoughts, we can often end up getting caught up in overthinking, worry and rumination which can result is stress, anxiety and depression. We are unable to listen properly to others and find it difficult to connect. We cannot focus on the task in hand as we are somewhere else in our mind. We cannot sleep as we cannot switch off the rambling thoughts. This is not the natural state of our mind.

We were born living in the present moment. Mindfulness is simply about returning to that. It is essentially being completely aware of everything in the present moment. Every moment is accepted for what it is in a non judgmental way. This changes the relationship we have with our thoughts. Mindfulness can also be described as a way of being, which leads to a different way of doing.

For me, mindfulness evolved from my practice of meditation. The more I meditated, the more I noticed when thoughts were taking over the calm and clarity that the meditation brought to my daily life. Those thoughts felt intrusive and I could instantly feel the emotion that those thoughts elicited in my body. I realised that allowing those thoughts to pass, rather than engaging in them, resulted in me having more energy, enjoyment and zest for life and feeling more relaxed.

Mindfulness in the Workplace

Mindfulness has also proved extremely beneficial in workplace settings. Stress & depression are amongst the most common reasons for staff to be absent from work. Mindfulness is highly effective in treating depression. It has been so successful in treating depression that it is now approved for use by the NHS in the UK as a treatment of choice for recurrent depression. Indeed a growing number of employers, such as Google, Transport for London and the US Marines are rolling out mindfulness training for employees and reporting benefits including increases in emotional intelligence and reduced stress-related absenteeism.